Policy Transfer of Branding and Reputation Management: Motivations,Challenges, and Opportunities for a Small Rural Municipality

Abstract

This paper seeks to convey a broader understanding of policy transfers between different sectors, focusing on transfers from the for-profit sector to local government. Specifically, we study the reasoning in a transfer process of branding and reputation management policy. Our case is a rural Norwegian municipality struggling to combat depopulation. This study is longitudinal. We discover that some original program elements cannot easily be transferred to the democratic context of local government. The transfer involves both interpretations and adjustments of the policy because of municipal institutional characteristics and values. The success of transfer depends here on the ability to balance the original policy with practices widely valued within the new setting.     

Conceptualizing and Explaining Bureauphobia: Contours,Scope, and Determinants

Several studies have described a perspective among citizens that entails a negative image of public administration or civil servants that persists even after positive encounters and experiences. However, this ambivalent attitude has rarely been studied empirically. The authors refer to this attitude as “bureauphobia” and seek to enhance the existing literature through an analysis of its scope and root causes in Spain. The article analyzes two surveys conducted in 2009 and 2010, elaborating two alternative measures of bureauphobia. The results are similar regardless of the survey used and the specific operationalization of the concept: more than 20 percent of each sample exhibits a perspective that combines a negative image of public administration and satisfaction with its performance. A general attitude of distrust stands out among the variables associated with bureauphobia. Substantial regional variation is evident in the extent of the phenomenon.     

Emotions and sentiment: An exploration of artist websites

Artists of all genres express their emotions through their creations and market their works online. We argue that in marketing their work online, it is important to understand not only the emotional responses of the artistic works themselves but also that the sentiment evoked on their websites matters. Developing the correct website sentiment can have favorable consequences. It can increase the interest of potential consumers, assure that appropriate expectations are set for the actual consumption experience, and lead to increased sales and word of mouth marketing. Online sentiment that is ill-aligned to the emotions the actual offering evokes can have adverse consequences, including disappointment with the actual offering and buyer's remorse. To better understand the online sentiment of artists' websites, we begin by briefly revisiting the interplay between art, emotions, and the issue of online “sentiment.” Then, we describe a study of a sample of artists' websites that had the objective of gauging both the nature of and the extent of the emotions present in its text, as well as gaining an indication of the sentiment of the website. We describe the use of a relatively new content analysis tool to do this. Following this, we explore the data gathered, with the specific purpose of determining whether the emptions expressed on artists' websites can significantly predict sentiment, if so, which emotions tend to be the strongest predictors. We conclude by discussing some managerial implications of the results and by identifying avenues for future research.     

A multivariate method for classifying third to seventh cervical newborn vertebrae using bone measurements.

This research provides a method to classify human newborn (9 to 10 lm) third to seventh cervical ossification centers. Nine linear measurements on the cervical neural arch were defined from 35 human neonates. Four discriminant functions were performed using the stepwise method. The model classifies 82.8% of grouped cases and 77.9% of cross-validated cases correctly. The model is useful in cases with isolated or commingled remains during anthropological or forensic investigations.     

Strategic Planning and Management in Local Government in Norway: Status after Three Decades

Strategic planning and management was introduced in the public sector more than three decades ago and has become a core component in many new public management reforms. Although strategy has been widely adopted in the public sector, the knowledge base regarding its practices and its impacts remains scarce, particularly outside Anglo‐American countries. This article replicates an American and British survey by analysing the adoption and impacts of strategic planning and management in Norwegian municipalities. The results show that, in 2012, a majority of the Norwegian municipalities used strategic planning and management, and that the respondents viewed the impact positively overall. Municipalities that had chosen the strategic stance of prospector and had financial resources from positive net operating results margin adopted strategic planning and management more than other municipalities. Municipalities with a high degree of strategic management and high stakeholder involvement had better perceived impacts of strategic planning than other municipalities.